Kuroko No Basuke: American Miracles
by Tyoung32
Summary: With their triumphant victory in the winter cup, basketball season starts all over for Kuroko and Kagami. This time, a few new threats appear.
1. Chapter 1

Seven thirty A.M.

Loud snoring came from the apartment. In a single room, a mess could be seen all over the floor. A mixture of random magazines and papers, along with other miscellaneous things. On the bed, on top of a body that was covered by blankets, a single plate of lasagna scraps slowly ascended and then descended due to the peaceful breathing of the person in slumber. At the doorway, a tall male, exactly six feet, five inches, scratched his dirty blonde hair as he shook his head in disappointment at what he saw.

"This is what happens when you don't set an alarm." The male standing in the doorway says before shrugging his shoulders and walking off. Another male peered his head into the room to see what the first one was going on about. With a toothbrush in his mouth, he looked inside the messy room, then shook his head as well. "How hard is it to set an alarm though? It's the first day at our new school. He's already breaking his promise to his parents by sleeping in?" The light skinned male multitasked, pulling his jet black hair back into a tail that stood up. "You have a point, Karlan. It took a while for us to convince our parents to allow us to come to Japan, so maybe I should wake him." The previous male spoke to the one now known as Karlan, who stood a whopping six feet, eight inches.

"So are we going to wake him, Jeremy?" Karlan asked the blonde haired male, muffling through his toothbrush.

"Nope. Let him be you guys."

Karlan looked down the hall to who was speaking. A six foot four raven haired male stood in the living room, munching on a bowl of assorted breakfast items. "He knew the drill, we're supposed to be at Seirin's gym in thirty minutes or we'll automatically be cut. If he doesn't want to play, then let him sleep. His natural instinct will wake him up if he's as if he says he is."

Karlan blinked a few times before speaking to the male. "That's kind of harsh isn't it John?" John gave a shrug, and took another bite of his food. He then tossed the bowl in the sink. "Tai is a big boy. If he wants to play basketball, like he said he did when he dragged us all the way out to Japan just to take on these so called monsters of miracles or whatever, he will wake up in time right? We can't baby someone who's supposed to be the leading point guard. Now, lets go."

"Come to think of it. It is kind of early for a tryout though." Walking into the scene behind John, a dark skinned six foot six inch male showed his face.

"I'll explain when we get there, Oba." John replied. He hoisted a bag over his shoulders as he and the other four began walking out the door.

Seirin high school gym. Inside was completely empty except for six lone figures shooting around in the dim light gymnasium.

He began dribbling. He then spun as he drove to the basket and rose off of two feet. He then dunked the ball with two hands and landed back down on the ground after the thunderous boom.

"Tch. Always showing off eh Kagami?"

Kagami picked up the ball, and then turned to the one who spoke to him, Aomine as he laughed. "You're the one to talk, Aomine. Besides, it's not like it's anything you can't do."

"Or me!" Kise shouts as he does the exact same sequence Kagami just performed, ending it with the same thunderous dunk. Kagami laughs again. "See?"

"You morons." The three of them turn back to spot Midorima standing at half court with the ball in his hands. "No matter how hard you dunk it..."

The green haired miracle then shot the ball from where he stood, and long seconds later, it swished right in. "It's still only two to my three." Midorima then gained a confident expression as he pushed his glasses back up.

"Still as smug Midochin." Atsushi lazily drew out as he now stood under the basket. "Why are we even here?"

"Sorry, Atsushi, but the one's who requested us shall be here shortly."

"Kurochin..." Atsushi looked down towards the phantom sixth man who appeared out of no where. "Why do you always sneak up like that?"

"So we're here to play a pick up game? Together? On the same team?" Kagami scratched the back of his head. "Is that even fair?"

"I feel as if I shouldn't participate." Akashi said as he made his presence known. "Playing against a bunch of randoms just because the miracles reputations have flourished is uncalled for."

"But that's the thing, Akashi. These guys are-"

Before Kuroko could finish his sentence, the doors swing open, and the four boys enter the gym. "John..." Karlan called out to him. "Are we early?"

"Very early." John replies with a smirk. "Tryouts aren't for another few days."

"What? Then why are we...?" Jeremy looked up, noticing the six boys in front of him. "Oh. So you've set it up huh?"

"Thanks to Kuroko here, I was able to give us what we wanted early." John replied.

"Then we should of woken Tai up!" Oba yelled. "This is the sole reason he brought us out here!"

"Tai is a sloth and that's his fault." John then turned back to Kuroko, who then turned to his friends and teammate. "Everyone, these guys are from America. BBF Academy to be exact. In a way, they were known as, America's Generation of Miracles."

"Americas... Miracles?"

"Please, you're giving us too much credit." John replied with a hearty laugh.

"Things have become more interesting." Akashi stated. "We'll hold off the questions till later. Right now, I want to see what they're made of. Aomine, Kise, Murasakibara, Midorima."

"Calm down Akachin. We don't listen to you anymore. But..I won't mind playing against them." Atsushi turned his attention to Karlan, the tallest one. "You must be the center. Kind of short aren't you?"

"...I'm six feet and eight inches. You're the enigma here."

"Well I guess I got the blonde." Kise says with a shrug as he walks over to Jeremy. Oba then walks over to Aomine as John stands in front of Midorima. "Well now that we're all matched up..." The green haired male spoke. "...We'll take first ball, since it's our court."

"Your court!?" Kagami yelled comically.

Karlan, John, Jeremy and Oba were on the other side of the court, waiting to start their defensive stand on the full court four on four pick up game. Atsushi gave a nonchalant pass into Midorima. "Just as I thought, he'll be acting as point guard. It's always the smart ones. Okay John just be ready to read his moves and- what!?"

John's eyes widened as Midorima stood in a shooting position; still on their side of the court. "From there? Is he joking!?"

The four of them soon found it that the miracles were for real, as Midorima rose up and shot the ball. They couldn't do a thing but watch as the ball floated through the air, and finally...swish, into the net.

"Ah!"

"No way!"

"It didn't even touch the rim..."m

The green haired miracle pushed his glasses up with a grin. "I believe it's three to zero so far right?"

"Screw that!" Karlan yelled as he passed the ball into Jeremy. "Wipe that cocky grin off his face! We didn't come all the way up here for embarrassment!"

"Heh..." Jeremy grinned as he dribbled the ball up. "Without Tai here, I'll handle the rock. But I won't have to do much because.."

Jeremy passed over the half court line, and then threw a hard chest pass to John. He caught it behind the three point line on the right arc.

"I may not be able to shoot from that far back! But there's one thing you'll never be able to do against my three pointers! And that's..."

John crouched, signifying that he was about to shoot. Immediately Midorima leapt upwards, attempting to block the incoming shot. Instead of pump faking or moving around, John shot it anyways, seemingly straight up. Instead of holding his follow through, John pulled his hands right back down for a quick release as the ball soared right over his defender.

"...you'll never block my shot."

Though he was closer to the basket than Midorima was on his full court shot, the shot took just as long to fall, and when it did, it fell right through the net just as clean.

"Oh..!" Kagami looked on in surprise. "Tch...there's no way anyone can master a shot like that." Midorima replied in disbelief.

"Whatever...three three. Hand me the ball." It was Aomine's turn as Atsushi lazily passed it in. The blue haired miracle grabbed the ball and started dribbling down, now being marked by Oba.

"Remember Oba, they're special. Each one has something unstoppable, so what's this guy's?"

Aomine then began his circus act of dribbling. Crossovers to spins and behind the backs, Oba scrambled to stay with him each way until Aomine finally took off, driving to the right. Oba was able to stay with him as Aomine pulled up for a jumper at the free throw line. Oba leaped into the air, right hand straight up as he gave a determined grin. "I got him. He won't score!" It was then Aomine began to lean back in his shot until nearly parallel to the floor. This caused Oba to widen his eyes as Aomine shot right over him, banking the shot in easily.

"Gah...what are you people?" Oba asked to no one in particular as Karlan passed the ball into him. "Is this fate? John is marked by a three point shooter. And I'm marked by..."

Oba dribbled up, and as if he was the American version of Aomine, began his own show of ball handling until finally attempting to zoom by the miracle. Aomine cuts him off, and Oba puts on the breaks. As he did however, Oba leaned back with a fadeaway of his own. Not as flashy, but just as effective as it bounced off the back rim and into the basket. "Heh...five to five. Tied up again."

"Now I wanna play!" Kagami yelled excitedly as he bit down on the collar of his shirt. Akashi merely side eyed him and then sighed. "Still..."

He turned back to the ensuing game. "It's only been two possessions, but they're on par. I wonder if any of them can..."

"Huh? I don't want the ball though." Atsushi said to Kise who was now dribbling up past the walking giant.

"Come on Mura-chi. One time, and if you like it, I'll pass it to you again later."

"You owe me sweet cakes." Atsushi replied as he began to lightly jog to the post. He then turned and placed Karlan on his back, easily pushing him back.

"Gch! What's this guy made of? Bricks?! I can't move him!"

"Oh?" The purple haired miracle looked back once before catching the ball. "I didn't think it would be this easy to crush you." Without even dribbling, Atsushi took off into the air with a one eighty spin. "Thor's Hammer!" He yelled out his signature dunk, and over the six foot eight male he slammed the ball in with two hands.

"D...Dammit!" He cursed in frustration, punching the ball to the ground one time.

"Such horrible poise." Midorima spoke. "That's not good for a basketball player."

"Heh...for him it's the opposite." Jeremy replied.

"Hm?" Coming back down the court, Jeremy quickly made a pass to Karlan, who caught the ball at the free throw line.

"High post?" Atsushi questioned. Karlan kept an angered look on his face. He then jab stepped to the right, and took off to the left. Atsushi was half a step behind, but as Karlan rose up, before he could reach the peak of his jump...he dunked it before Atsushi could reach. With his hand on the rim, he continued to rise until he placed his free hand on the backboard to stop momentum. Once he released his hand, his handprint remained, marking the height of his leap.

"Gah...that's probably higher than Kagami.." Kuroko spoke. "Hey! Don't belittle me Kuroko!" He backfired to the phantom sixth who sat beside him.

"Seven to seven. This is getting nowhere." Jeremy spoke as he ran a hand through his hair. "Looks like Kise is up next if they continue their pattern."

And he was right. Kise quickly came down and...just like before the game started, Kise dribbled hard, spun left past his defender, rose off of two feet and dunked it home. "...Well..." Jeremy couldn't help but laugh. "It's only right."

Not wasting anytime, Jeremy came down the same way, except instead, he spun right instead of left, leaping off of two feet for the dunk.

"Wha... It was like a mirror...he did everything Kise just did, except he performed in the opposite direction..."

Kagami's observation was dead on, and with the right players slowly panting, they all grinned as well, loving the competition they were facing.

"This isn't good." Akashi thought to themselves. "Are they going to Seirin this year? All of them plus Kagami and Tetsu? It's going to be more than difficult to gain revenge.."

"So nine to nine right?" John asked. "Hai." Midorima replied as Atsushi walked the ball out of bounds. Each of the miracles' grin then began to spread just a bit more as Aomine began to speak. "You're not that bad, but it's now time to get serious. I hope you're all ready."

"Wait!" The doors swung open, and through them, a shorter dark skinned

male with short black hair and brown eyes came hopping through, trying to put on his last shoe. "Sorry I'm late don't cut me! I'll hop in and show you what I got I promise I'll make it!"

The miracles and Testsu blinked in confusion as the other four merely lowered their heads in embarrassment. "Who are you?" Akashi asked.

"Huh? I'm Tai, and I'm here for the tryouts."

"Tryouts?" Kagami scratched his head.

John then turned to Tai. "Idiot, there aren't any tryouts today, I just told you that last night so you would get up for this, but you still failed!"

"Ah!" Tai then quickly bowed. "Sorry! I passed out really hard and my alarm didn't go off!"

"So can we finish this game or..." Aomine impatiently waited as he spun the ball on his finger.

Tai then turned to Kagami. "Hey you, can you jump in for their team!? I really wanna play too!"

Kagami blinked again, staring at the excited athlete. "Sure...point guard right?"

"Yeah! Lets go!" Tai yelled as he walked towards the court. Aomine was the first one to notice. As Tai's foot stepped onto the court, his entire demeanor changed. Aomine cocked a brow as the once smiling male now held a cocky visage. "Hm...lets see how this goes. Our ball. You're up Kagami."

"Yeah!" Kagami replied as he caught the ball and dribbled up. He crossed over once, and already, Tai was out of sight. "Hm? I guess it was all hype from the other four." Kagami thought to himself. As he took another dribble towards the basket however, Tai reappeared from behind, literally grabbing the ball from Kagami's possession. "What the!?"

"Dammit Kagami!" Aomine yelled as he ran back on defense. It was a fast break, Tai vs. Aomine. With a between the legs dribble, the point guard charged hard to the basket, but Aomine quickly cuts him off. "Heh...sorry, but no one is quicker than me."

As he was cut off, Tai's smirk reappeared as he then gave a no look pass; behind his back and into the air. Out of the air, Jeremy caught the ball and dunked it in.

"Kch!"

"Eleven to nine right?" Tai asked without really looking for an answer.

"L-let me go again!" Kagami yelled.

"Get out the way." Aomine replied as he dribbled up. Once again, it was him and Oba one on one. The dribbling show began once again, except this time, as Aomine crossed back over, Tai tried to sneak in, causing Aomine to back up.

"Aomine Daiki. The one man team. Never passes, always scores."

"Ha...it seems last year's reputation proceeds me."

"Last year?" Tai gave a puzzled look, but it was soon answered as Aomine gave a behind the back pass to the unmarked Kagami.

"Alright!" The red head yelled as he rose up, but before he could dunk it in, Karlan met Kagami in the air, creating a wall between Kagami and the goal. "Not done yet!" Kagami yelled as he then gave a mid air pass back down to Atsushi.

"I'll break the goal!" He yelled as he caught Kagami's pass. He crouched slightly, but as he rose up, the ball was knocked out of his hands. "That fast!?" Kise asked. "He was just with Aomine!"

Tai was the culprit once more, stripping the ball clean from Atsushi's grasp.

"..." Akashi watched on quietly as the miracles were able to stop the counter attack. Tai dribbled at the top of the half court, Kise on him due to the mix up on the fast break.

"Okay... He's not faster than Aomine, so I can handle it.."

Tai slowly dribbled three more times. He then began to take off to Kise's left. "Going left? From back there? That's to easy even if he does crossover." Kise slid accordingly, and as he slid to his spot to cut Tai off, his eyes widened as Tai was now driving hard to the right, a wide open lane until Atsushi stepped in to cut him off.

"Wha...what was..."

Kise was frozen solid. Tai then leaped off of his right foot, Atsushi now challenging the smaller point guard in the air.

Another grin, and another answer for the miracles. Tai ducked under Atushi and shovel passed the ball right to an open Karlan. Karlan than quickly rose, and normally Atsushi would be able to recover with his ability. But just like before, Karlan leaped into the air, and dunked the ball in over Atsushi as he continued rising. He then dropped back down to the floor, and without looking back, ran down the floor for defense.

"Quick dunks." Kagami murmured. "It's weird to look at, but it seems effective."

"Thirteen to nine!" John roared enthusiastically.

"Kagami."

Everyone stopped as the two color eyed male rose from his seat. Kuroko watched as Akashi walked over to Kagami, smiling. "Sit this out okay? I want to see something."

"...what!? No way! I'm not gonna let him beat me like that!"

Suddenly, Atsushi wraps his giant palm on top of the head of the Ace. "Move, split brows."

"Gah! Murasakibara! Let go you idiot!"

"Hey Tai." John called out to him. Tai then turned to him as John spoke again. "This is your chance. I heard they call him the emperor or something."

"What a prestigious nickname." Jeremy added. "I guess it fits because doesn't have that emperor eye or whatever."

Oba then scratched his head. "So...Emperor eye vs. The eye of the Dictator? What's the difference?"

"I heard rumors that Akashi's ability lets him see what his opponents are going to do. While Tai's dictates, making his opponent do what he wants on both sides. Like how he stole the ball from Kagami the first time. He forced him to go right and because of that, Kagami thought he had an open lame."

"As always." Oba replied. "Our faith is in you, Tai. You have the better...eye, or whatever."

The entire time, Akashi and Tai continues to stare towards each other with a grin on both of their features.

"Well..." Jeremy added. "We're about to find out who's better now, aren't we?"


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Two teamed school.

"Ugh..."

Tai was hunched over at his desk, surrounded by his teammates. Each one of them wore a dark red school uniform as they stood around in the classroom waiting for the teacher to appear.

"Yo! Stop groaning!" John demanded. "Its been two days."

"But she kicked us out..." Tai replied as he raised his head. "I was seconds away from playing Akashi and she came in and kicked us out. And the worst part is...she turned me down!"

{Flashback}

"This is it." Jeremy said once more as Akashi caught the inbounds pass from Atsushi. Eyes were lowered into a serious expression. The ten of them were focused, ready to go all out against each other. They were, until...

The doors swung open once more. "Hold it!" A woman's voice rung out, echoing into the gym. Everyone froze, except for Kagami and Kuroko. Kagami began running over with a smile. "Hey! Rik-"

Before he could finish his sentence, Kagami found himself crouched down to the floor with a fist driving into his skull. "Who told you to open this gym?!" Riko yelled. Now stricken with fear, everyone pointed Kuroko's way. The only problem now was, that the phantom sixth man was no where to be found.

"What!?" Kagami and the others yelled in shock as Testsu was nowhere to be seen.

"I'll get him later!" Riko assured. "Until then, everyone out!"

Jeremy and Oba sighed simultaneously as Karlan began untying his shoes. "Well Tai, I guess you'll have to wait...Tai?"

John began looking around for the now missing point guard. "Where did he..!?" Helping him out, Jeremy tapped on John's shoulder, and then pointed to where Riko was standing. Now in disbelief, John palmed his own face at what he saw. It was Tai, crowding the now aggravated Riko.

"Are you a third year!?" Tai asked enthusiastically.

"I'm graduated." Riko responded. "I coach this team."

"Wow! You're the coach of the defending champs!? And you're a girl! A cute one too! Hey how about we-"

"No" Riko quickly cut the boy off from his question, walking off as she left Tai frozen in immediate heartbreak. The miracles (except Akashi since he wasn't easily amused) then began snickering towards him, belching out in a full laugh as Tai turned to yell at them.

{End Flashback}

The others began snickering again as Tai comically sulked into his desk. "It's not that funny." He muffled into his desk.

"It's pretty funny." Karlan replied, still holding his stomach from laughing. John then sat up, folding his arms over his chest as he spoke profoundly. "Alright, now that laughing at Tai is over, we need to find more capable members, or we'll be playing the entire game every game. We can't hold up like that."

"Why not?" Tai asked, not removing his head from the desk, but raising his hand to make sure he was acknowledged.

"Do you think you can play every minute of every game? You know what, don't answer that." John replied. "I know there's not a lot of us wearing this color of school uniform, but I'm sure if we can at least find three capable members.."

"Three Huh?" Jeremy asked while rubbing his chin. He then turned to the rest of the classroom, a mixture of boys and girls who were waiting for class to officially start. Jeremy then raised his right hand. "Oi! Anyone here love playing basketball!?"

John then snapped his eyes towards Jeremy. "Hey, don't make us look desperate!"

"And good! You have to be good!" Tai yelled as well, now standing by the comically enthusiastic small forward Jeremy. A silence went across the room, until a male stood up and bowed. "Hai! I love basketball!"

The team looked over, noticing the dark skinned male, about the same as Tai's height, if not then taller. "Hey!" Tai and Jeremy exclaimed with a large smile simultaneously.

"And your name is?" Karlan asked.

"My name is Sam." He replied. "I'm a point guard."

Tai kept a smile on his face - a very transparent one. It was easily noticeable that he was now bothered by the situation. "We would find a point guard first." He said to himself. John patted Tai on the shoulder, smiling back at Sam. "Sounds good! We have tryouts in one week! Are you in?"

"Of course!" Sam replied before taking his seat once more.

"Any others? In a more needed position?" Tai asked, causing John to slap him over the head.

"All positions are welcome!" Karlan exclaimed. Just then, a tall male then stood up from the back of the class. Karlan, Tai and Jeremy then both jumped back, flailing. "A giant!" The three yelled in unison. John then turned to Karlan yelling as well. "You're just as tall!"

The male raised his hand in a shy manner, turning his eyes to the floor as he spoke. "Hai...my name is Marcus. I'm from America but I'm studying abroad."

"Hey! Like us!" Oba shouted in response.

"Hai... I always wanted to join a team, but..."

"You don't know how to play basketball." John finished the statement with his prediction.

"Right.." Marcus sighed. "How did you know?"

"It's common in tall people of your nature." John replied. "But that's okay! Before the season truly starts, we can teach you the basics. All we need really is a back up for Karlan here."

Karlan grinned, giving a smug expression from John's comment. An expression that quickly washed away as John thumped Karlan on the back of his head.

"Alright!" Tai exclaimed. "It looks like that makes seven! That's good enough right?"

John huffed, crossing his arms over his chest. "I'd be more secure with at least eight or nine. Maybe ten."

"Heavy rotation." Jeremy muttered.

Outside of the classroom, a few familiar faces were peering inside. Kagami and Kuroko were lurking, Kagami's face nearly planted against the glass window as everyone continued to talk inside.

"Man, we're sharing a school with them!?" Kagami asked the obvious question. Kuroko, milkshake in hand and straw in mouth, continued sipping until he finally released the straw. "They're school is still under construction, but they were planned to start academics this year. They'll be here for a while."

"Man.." Kagami scratched the back of his head, looking down the hallway now as he marked all the classrooms that now technically didn't belong to Seirin. He then began walking away, noticing Kuroko already taking off and heading back to his classroom. "That means we'll have to share a gym too.."

"It shouldn't be a problem. We got a boost from the alumni for winning the Winter Cup." Kuroko easily responded, causing Kagami's face to scrunch in an unwanted agreement. "Right.." Kagami's only response for the next few seconds as they made their way to their own classes. "But, those five... It's like Aomine and the others are on the same team again with such caliber."

Suddenly, Kagami felt a slap against the back of his head. Letting out a pained yelp, Kagami turned to Kuroko, grabbing his collar. "What was that for!?"

"You're giving them too much credit. Either that or you're not giving us enough. They're good, but our team is better. If not, then we will be. I have faith in Sierin."

Rubbing the back of his head, the red head sighed, averting his eyes from his point guard. "Good point... I have faith as well, don't worry."

"I know you do, Kagami."

.

.

.

He sat alone at a park, on a lone bench as an abundance of school kids walked by him. Some of them began to whisper, recognizing their classmate as they walked by. He picked up a cigar, unwrapping the lone smoke stick as he pulled a lighter from his pocket. Holding the lighter up to the cigar, he lit it, inhaling the smoke as he held the flame alit. Pulling the cigar away, he exhaled the smoke into the air, a sigh of relief coming afterwards. "I don't see the big deal here." John stated to himself as he stared off into the distance, mostly towards the basketball court in front of him. The court was filled with randoms, adults and kids alike, all playing basketball with leisure. "We flew all the way to Japan, just to play against some urban legends in a high school tournament. We'll just dominate this one like we did home. I don't know who to curse: Tai for dragging me out here, or myself for actually going."

"The latter." John turned around to see Jeremy walking up behind him, his school bag hung over his shoulder as he stared towards John. "Smoking again huh?"

John sighed, and rolled the cigar around in his hands. He elected not to amuse Jeremy with an answer yet as he continued to stare at the basketball court and those who inhabited it.

"I'm not sure if this was worth the trip either you know." Jeremy continued. "Leaving everyone back home, just to play against these guys, who aren't even on the same team."

"Yeah-"

"But!" Jeremy exclaimed, cutting John off. "We're not just basketball players here. We're in a new country. There's things to see, people to meet, and cultures to learn. So let's make the most of it right?"

John took in another puff of his cigar. He then dropped it and ashed the cigar with his foot by stepping on it. "...Not interested. I told you guys, I'll play with you all, because you're my friends, but outside the states really isn't my thing. So let's get this season over with, so we can go home next year."

With that, John began walking off, Jeremy catching up to him as he now walked beside him. To keep the mood from staying gloomy, he smiled. "I wonder how bad the team will be without us next year?"

"We are the team," John replied. "So I'm sure they'll go from first, to worst in the matter of a school year."

.

.

.

"Another milkshake?" Kagami asked Kuroko as the two began walking away from their school grounds. Kuroko didn't answer, only continued drinking from the straw of his cup. Kagami huffed, but then tilted his head back, looking to the partly cloudy sky as they walked on. "Practice starts in a week. It's going to be weird without the former third years. Hyuga, Teppei..."

Kuroko nodded. "I'm sure someone will come along to take their place. If not, then we'll make due with what we have."

Kagami turned to Kuroko with a skeptical look. "You've been really smug lately, Kuroko. What's up with you?"

Taken back by the comment, Kuroko pulled his mouth away from the straw, turning to Kagami. "Am I? My apologies."

"Hai...it's nothing." Kagami arched a brow, now lifting his head as he heard a familiar sound coming towards them. The sound of a basketball being dribbled became louder and louder as he and Kuroko, who now heard it too, stood there in the midst of the sidewalk. Finally in view, was Tai. Tai then spotted the two as well, a stale expression turning into a joyful smile as he noticed them. "Oi!" The male called out, picking up the basketball and holding it by his side as he stood across from the duo. "What's up guys? Fancy seeing you two outside of school."

"Not really." Kuroko responded. "We go to the same school building, so we're bound to run into each other, right?"

Tai laughed, not really replying as he then turned to Kagami, staring with a smile at the split brows that glared back at him.

"So, the season is less than a month away. You guys excited? I'm sure we'll get to scrimmage each other before an actual game, so that'll be fun!"

"Yeah." Kagami replied. He looked the shorter male up and down once. "We're looking forward to it. Don't estimate me from that pick up game though. Seirin is a whole different team than that game."

"Oh?" Tai's smile turned into a grin, as he began spinning the ball on his finger. "So you're telling me, that your school, is stronger than all the miracles combined?"

Kagami hesitated, realizing what he just said, and realizing that it wasn't true at all. He was standing in front of the "general" of the five who seemed to be on par with the miracles. How were they supposed to fight against them on separate teams? He scowled, still unable to answer, which caused Tai's grin to widen. "You know, we came here because we heard about you guys. Even you two, Kagami and Kuroko. We took the entire summer to train for this, but it seems we trained...a little too hard. It'll be sad to see everyone; Akashi, Aomine, Kise, all of you, get blown out one by one during the cup."

Tai's grin remained evident, until he looked beside Kagami, realizing that Kuroko was gone. His eyes widened, and he could now just barely feel the presence of the phantom sixth man behind him, reaching for the ball.

"It seems your reputation precedes you, Phantom Sixth."

At the last second, Tai switched hands, moving the ball away from Kuroko's swipe just in time. Kuroko stumbled forward from the miss, landing next to Kagami. "Awkward. You were about to prove a point by taking this from me." Tai continued his grin, and then began walking past the two, dribbling once again. "See you two tomorrow."

As he left the duo, Tai's grin slowly turned into a concerned expression. "What was that!? I heard about it, but I completely lost sight of Tetsu Kuroko just then.

That's going to be a problem..."


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: New Traditions.

"Take a look gentlemen! This school, will soon be conquered by us!" Tai stood against the railing as the five of them stood upon the roof. He held his arms out, looking down at the mixture of students. A sea of dark red and black stared back at him; a mixture of murmurs and whispers questioning his sanity as he continued garnering attention. Suddenly, a wave of girls began screeching in love and admiration. They were yelling for a name that Tai wasn't paying attention to. Instead, he soaked up the cheers that weren't for him as he turned back to his teammates, pointing to the screaming crowd. "Hear that? The women already love us!"

"Us?" John questioned as he walked over to the railing where Tai was standing. Coincidentally, Jeremy was just in sight, next to Tai as John appeared. "Let me show you something, Tai." John stated as he pulled him out of sight of the student crowd down below. The cheers continued on. "...Show me what?" Tai asked, shrugging. John held up a finger. "Listen. Hear the girls?"

"Yeah...? Still cheering for us." Tai replied.

"Us.." John chuckled. He then pulled Tai back up to the railing, and pulled Jeremy out of their sights. "Hey!" Jeremy yelled in surprise as he was yanked away. Suddenly, the cheers stopped. All that was heard now, was the consistent murmurs that were heard before.

Tai blinked, unsure of how to react to the quietness, but before he could make a comment, John pulled him away again, replacing the point guard with Jeremy. Once again, the uproar occurred. Just to add insult to injury, John began rotating everyone in. First Karlan, as the cheers from the girls stopped. He then placed Jeremy back up to recreate the uproar before silencing everyone with Oba's appearance.

"Okay but that's not the point!" Tai yelled. He then hooped up on the railing, standing on the edge of the roof as everyone hushed once more. "The point is, we're going to take this school over!" He yelled, throwing his fist into the air.

"It's only been a few days and I'm already tired of seeing them." Kagami stated as he stood next to Kuroko and the others, blending in with the rest of the students. "They're too loud."

"I agree with Kagami." The cat faced player Shinji added. "It's bad enough we have to share a school with them, but now they're on our roof. We do initiations up there right? That's still a thing right?"

"Of course it is." Kagami replied. "Nothing changes here without our say so. If anything it's we..."

"TETSU!"

Kagami's words trailed off as they were being overdrawn by a familiar female voice. Everyone turned around to the one who called him. Arms wrapped around his neck as pink haired flowed about. Buried in Kuroko's chest, was one Satsuki Momoi. The rest of the Seirin team looked on in comical envy. "Oh, it's Momoi." Kagami murmured.

"You know, I don't think everyone's gotten over that she's in love with you, Kuroko." Shinji added as the rest of the team remained frozen in their envious states.

"What are you doing here?" Kuroko asked her, ignoring the comments from his teammates. Momoi finally peeled away from the light blue haired male, smiling. "I took a school day to come see you! Just wanted to see Seirin's environment after winning the Winter Cup. Are you guys celebrities yet? More importantly..." She began looking around, noticing the mixed colored uniforms in the sea of students. "Where are they?"

"They?" Kagami asked, blinking to come back to a normal state. "Yeah, the Americans. The ones that dominated you in that pick up game."

"Dominated!?" Kagami questioned with an angered expression. He tightened his fist. "You must have gotten your information from Aomine!"

"Kise actually." She replied, still innocently looking around for her targets.

"Kise threw me under the bus!?" Kagami yelled at the top of his lungs. In the next instant, Kagami was seen away from the group, sulking. Momoi continued to look around, until Kuroko finally pointed her to the roof. "Huh? Oh? How high and mighty. They've taken the roof already? This will be an interesting season."

Back upon the roof, the five continued to banter between each other, still looking down towards the crowd below them. Karlan than pointed towards the basketball team. "Hey, there's the Seirin guys!"

"How could you spot them from here?" John asked, walking to and leaning against the railing to get a better view. He could now easily see them once Karlan pointed the team out. His eyes then flashed wide. "Oh? And who's the pink haired cute girl with them?"

"Hm?" The rest of the five was now interested, and headed to the railing as well to get a better view.

"Whoa..." Oba whispered aloud. "She's cute!"

"She's got nice tits!" Karlan exclaimed, almost loud enough for everyone below him to hear. John then slapped him against the back of his head for the comment. Jeremy stayed quiet, but as he stared, to him it almost felt like Momoi was staring back.

"What do you think Tai?" Oba asked the point guard. He didn't receive a response. "Tai?" He looked over to where he was once standing, seeing nothing but a silhouette of where he once was, and a trail of dust. "...Tai?"

"So that's them." Momoi said again, placing a hand over her eyes to shield her vision from the sun while she looked. "Yeah, they look like athletes from here. Especially..." She turned her attention to Jeremy, staring back towards the male staring at her. "Hm..." She grinned, and then turned back to Kuroko and the others, clasping her hands together. "Well, I got all the information I needed."

"Really?" The others asked in unison. "Hai, it was great seeing you again, Tetsu~! Maybe next time it'll be a longer visit..."

Momoi's words faded as a loud yell was being heard once more. The group looked over to the source of the yell, and what they saw was a bunch of students being launched into the air, and a figure running towards them.

"HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO" He shouted as he made his way towards them. Once he was there, everything turned from comically serious, to a romantic attempt as Tai clasped his hands with Momoi's. Taken completely off guard, Momoi stood there, unsure of how to react.

"Hey. My name's Tai." Tai started, staring into her eyes with a smile.

"Uh...hey..." She replied awkwardly. "Momoi.."

"Beautiful. I'm part of the new school here. I'm from America, which means I'm new to Japan. So maybe you could show me around soo-"

"Gack!" He gagged as John began pulling him away from his collar. "How did you get down here so fast!? I ran my hardest!" Tai yelled as he tried to fight against the pulling.

"You're an embarrassing teammate, you know that!? Have some proper etiquette!" John replied. As Karlan and Oba walked off with them, Jeremy gave Momoi and the group a quick wave. "Sorry! He's a bit out there sometimes! Bell's about to ring though, so I'll see you guys in the halls!" He smiled at each one of them before jogging to catch up with his friends.

Everyone blinked in confusion, still feeling the effects of Tai's appearance more than anything. "Well...that was something..." Kagami stated as he and the others began walking back inside; Momoi hugging Kuroko once more before making her way away from Seirin high school.

.

.

.

The bell rung in the background as the halls quickly filled with the mixture of students. Suddenly, the the Seirin high students stood in the way of the newbies, forming a blockade in front of the doors that led to outside.

"What's going on?" A random asked. Another stepped up, waving his hands in surrender. "Look guys, we don't want any trouble. We're not trying to start a school war or anything."

"Quiet!" The male in front of Seirin's enforcement yelled, silencing everyone. "Students of Ashita High!" He yelled again. "What you're about to experience, is a huge part of lunch time here at Seirin!"

The students of Ashita began looking around, confused as to what he was going on about.

"Everyone..." The student kicked the doors open, showing another endless yet chaotic ocean of students lined up at a simple stand against a far walk. "THIS IS JAPANESE LUNCH TIME RUSH!"

As soon as he yelled, the students of Seirin rushed out into the yard, also shoving, or at least attempting to shove their way through the crowd to reach the front. The students of Ashita looked around, still confused, but now intimidated, some concerned as they watched the chaotic scene unfold. In the back of Ashita's crowd, a certain giant could be seen holding his stomach as it growled.

"I knew I should of went to the cafeteria! But I heard about their amazing bread. Ah, I really want it..!"

Marcus continued to hold his stomach as he stood just a bit away from the chaotic crowd. Ashita high had already joined the melee, the dark red and black school uniform began to form in a mini riot. "There's no way I'll make it through that! Especially since everyone got a head start! I'm gonna starve!"

Marcus continued his freak out, until he saw Tai walking around the crowd with bread in his hand. He took a huge bite, smiling in ecstasy as he continued walking away.

"Hey..uh...Tai!" Marcus ran over, now bowing in front of the point guard. "Hm?" Tai turned to him, still chewing the bread in his mouth. "Marcus. What are you doing back here?"

Marcus regained his posture. "I...I wanted that bread from the stand, but I didn't expect it to be like this!"

"Oh is that so?" Tai gained a cheeky grin. "Well, you better get up there soon. When I bought mine, there were only five left." At that moment, the other four of the American miracles walked by, all moaning to the sweet taste of the bread. "Make that one." Tai said as he began walking away with the others. "You can do it Marcus. Just, use your size. You have to use your talents to your advantage."

"Use my talents to my advantage?" Marcus questioned. He then turned back to the crowd, staring at the ensuing fight for the front of the line. Holding his stomach, Marcus's face slowly turned from intimidation, to holding a raging fire in his eyes. "I won't spend the rest of the day starving! I waited all morning for this!" He began yelling, crouched down and clenching his fists as if he was about to power up into something. "I'LL MAKE IT TO THE FRONT OF THE LINE!"

Marcus took off, head above the crowd as he began bumping the smaller students out of the way.

"Think he'll make it?" Kagami asked, talking to Kuroko. It was then when Oba peered his head around Kagami's shoulder, scaring him. "Ten bucks says he does."

Kagami patted his chest, trying to regain air after having it scared out of him. "Don't do that! But fine! Ten bucks! You guys don't know what he's in for."

Shinji turned to Kuroko whispering. "Kagami does know that all four of them already have bread right? So they should know what it takes to get through."

Kuroko kept his emotionless face. "This is one of the times where Kagami has to learn the hard way."

"Ten bucks!" Oba and Kagami shook on it, turning back to Marcus. "He doesn't stand a chance!" Kagami exclaimed, but when he actually turned to Marcus, the giant was at the back once again, panting slightly, but holding the bread in the air. "I did it!" The giant yelled. "I grabbed it!"

"In record time too!" Tai shouted as Kagami sulked in the background with Oba dancing around him. Kagami stared at the ground, a vein popping out of his head as Oba danced around him. "I hate these guys..."

"Okay Marcus!" John said as he dribbled the basketball a few times. Three of them took the court at the park, occupying the recreation. John held the ball at his side as Karlan and Marcus stood next to each other, Marcus just inches taller than Karlan. "Tell me what you know about basketball."

"Well..." Marcus hummed while scratching the underside of his chin. "I know that you're supposed to put the ball in the circle in order to gain points. Oh! And there are five people on a court for a single team!"

"Alright." John shrugged. "How do you feel about shooting?"

Immediately Marcus panicked, waving his hands in surrender. "Ah! Oh no! Shooting is an act of violence! I don't condone any of that!"

Karlan and John froze, stale faces between the both of them as they slowly turned away from Marcus. "Marcus I..." Karlan was struck, unsure of what to even say. John then snapped out of his trance, and turned back to the giant. "Marcus, I meant shooting the ball, as in attempting to place it in the hoop."

"Oh!" Marcus said, smiling at the mistake. "I'm sure I'm not good at that, since it takes practice and I never practiced this game."

"True. Alright let's see what you got." John said, as he directed Marcus where to stand. "Oh, I read about this! This is the post!" Marcus exclaimed as he stood where John pointed him to. Karlan stood behind him, ready to play defense. "That's right. You're a center, so you play the post." John bounced the ball a few times again. "Okay, I want you to try to back Karlan as far under the basket as possible. When you can't push him anymore, I'll pass you the ball, and you try to score, okay?"

Marcus nodded. "Got it! I'll try my best!"

"That's all we need, kid." John replied, slapping the ball in his hands. Immediately Marcus crouched just slightly.

"He has a light frame...I'm sure John knows that he won't move me an inch- Gah!" Karlan's thoughts were quickly cut off. It seemed Marcus took the center off guard, pushing him back rather easily. Karlan recovered, now trying to push back, but it seemed no use. He continued to be forced near the basket against his will. "What's going on!? He's not strong enough for this!?"

Even John watched in surprise as Marcus steadily moved Karlan towards the goal. "His center of gravity seems amazing." The three point shooter said, watching Marcus dominate Karlan in terms of position. Karlan looked up, realizing that he was directly under the basket. Helpless. "No way! That's a dunk every time..!"

"Pass it!" Marcus yelled. John perked up, and gave Marcus a chest pass, the center catching it before taking a determined expression. "I'm done..." Karlan stated as Marcus leaped into the air. Marcus would then rear back and...fail the dunk attempt, falling to his rear after wedging the ball between his right hand and the rim. As he fell to the ground, Karlan and John once again stared with the same pale faces as before. John blinked a few times, finally forming a small smile at Marcus who was slowly standing, rubbing his back from the fall.

"Well...

It's a start..."


End file.
